December 2024: Patterns of Activity. Light Pollution News.

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This Episode:

This episode, what would cause the moon to drive up instances of road kill, we take a look at how some past cultures engaged with night, and is it really light pollution, or is it fright pollution?

Host:

Bird Feeder Cameras Reveal Nocturnal Wildlife Activity

Ecology enthusiasts are increasingly turning to bird feeder cameras to observe nocturnal wildlife. Danae Wolfe’s bird feeder camera has captured diverse species-including raccoons, turkeys, flying squirrels, and deer-demonstrating the rich biodiversity that thrives at night. These cameras highlight how artificial light at night (ALAN) can influence animal behavior and ecosystem dynamics.

Light Pollution and Credit Worthiness: Innovative Research in Rural China

A groundbreaking study published in the Annals of Operations Research explores how light pollution and nighttime light intensity can be used to assess credit worthiness in rural Northern China. By analyzing variables such as night-time light intensity, population density, land use, and water efficiency, researchers found these factors outperformed traditional macroeconomic indicators in credit score modeling.

Bats and Awareness Campaigns: The BLM’s “Fat Bat Week”

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wyoming has launched creative awareness campaigns to spotlight bats-one of the most misunderstood mammals. Bats consume thousands of insects nightly, providing essential pest control. The BLM’s “Fat Bat Week” social media campaign encourages the public to vote for their favorite bat, using humorous names like “Hoary Potter and the Guano of Fire.” Contrary to popular myths, less than 1% of bats carry rabies, according to BLM wildlife technicians.

Full Moon and Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions

A study in Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment found a 46% increase in wildlife-vehicle collisions during full moon nights in rural Texas. The research suggests that increased environmental illumination during full moons leads to driver complacency, resulting in more accidents involving wildlife.

Moonlight’s Effect on Mammal Behavior

Research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B analyzed camera data from 86 mammal species across 17 protected forests on three continents. The study found that 30% of species avoided full moons, while 20% were more active. Nocturnal animals typically avoided moonlight, whereas crepuscular species like deer increased activity during full moons. This highlights the complex relationship between natural light cycles and animal behavior.

Artificial Light and Moth Navigation

A PNAS study used harmonic radar to track moths’ flight patterns, revealing that only 4% of moths flew toward streetlights. Most moths actively avoided artificial light, indicating that streetlights fragment moth habitats and disrupt natural behaviors.

Urban Birds and Light Pollution Resilience

Urban house finches show remarkable resilience to artificial light at night, according to a study in Science of the Total Environment. Urban finches exhibited lower stress and parasite levels compared to rural finches when exposed to artificial lighting. Both groups experienced sleep deprivation, but urban birds were less affected.

Light Pollution Threatens Seabird Fledglings

Research in the Journal of Experimental Biology highlights the dangers of light pollution for seabirds, such as Cory’s shearwater. Fledglings become disoriented and trapped by artificial lights, particularly blue and white light, leading to increased mortality rates.

Artificial Light’s Impact on Earthworms and Plants

A study in the journal Land examined the effects of artificial light at night on earthworms and Phacelia plants. Earthworms avoided fluorescent lighting, staying underground, while Phacelia plants showed reduced germination but increased growth under artificial light. The study also found reduced water leaching due to earthworm behavior changes.

Tracking Human Activity via Satellite Light Data

Satellite imagery from 1992–2013, analyzed in PNAS, shows a significant increase in artificial light at night, especially in the Russian Arctic due to oil and gas extraction. The study reveals the extent of human impact on the Arctic environment, with Russia accounting for 33% of the region’s light pollution.

Nighttime Across Cultures: Historical Perspectives

Anthropological research highlights the varied use of nighttime across cultures. Ancient Romans enjoyed vibrant nightlife, while Mayans hunted and worshipped. In Oman, farmers irrigated crops at night, and Polynesians navigated by starlight. The “two sleeps” phenomenon, common in ancient Rome, involved segmented sleep patterns similar to modern trends.

Light Pollution in Popular Culture

Comics and media often reflect changing perceptions of the night sky. Classic strips like “The Far Side” and “Dinosaur Comics” have addressed light pollution, lamenting the loss of visible stars due to excessive artificial lighting. The nostalgia for starlit skies is echoed in discussions about how modern animation and comics depict nighttime scenes.

Light Pollution News: December Read Along

And how about this! What if your level of light pollution could help determine your credit worthiness? Researchers in the journal, Annals of Operations Research posited that through the use of a night-time light intensity variable, a population distribution density variable, land use identification, and an efficiency measure for water use, they could feasibly improve credit score models assessing individuals living in rural Northern China.  The authors of the paper believe that these variables “outperformed” other macroeconomic factors to build a more viable rating. 

 It wasn’t that long ago that we were all fine-tuning our Halloween costumes. So here’s a fun awareness campaign that the Bureau of Land Management Wyoming put on to bring attention to one of the spookiest mammals out there, bats.

Bats, which per BLM, consume upwards of “2,000 – 6,000 moths, beetles, flies and mosquitos” – have engaged in an annual beauty contest since 2019, think ‘Fat Bear Week.’

For you listening who do not reside in North America, Fat Bear Week is a week run by Katmai National Park and Preserve to bring awareness and attention to grizzly bears. 

Well, in this case, BLM runs a social media campaign that encourages participants to vote for their favorite bat. Similar to Fat Bear Week, each contestant is assigned a humorous name – in this case, the competition eventually came down to two bats. Hoary Potter and the Guano of Fire, a hoary bat from Oregon, and Honey Bunches of MyOtis (a play on the cereal ‘Honey Bunches of Oats). Other names included ‘Sir Flaps-A-Lot,’ a Townsend’s big eared bat.

Unlike popular misconceptions spurred by cultural misgivings, “less than 1% of all bat populations carry rabies,” according to Emma Busk, a BLM wildlife technician.

We have a curious study from Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment which looked at the interesting case of wildlife vehicular collisions on full moon nights. 

The study assessed both wildlife collisions and non-wildlife collisions in rural and urban areas within the state of Texas from January 2011 through to January 2020 – that’s 112 lunar cycles for you at home counting!

It found that there was a 46% uptick in wildlife-vehicle collisions during the full moon, as opposed to new moon nights in rural areas. The difference was less pronounced in urban areas. And there was no significant correlation between moon phases and non-wildlife vehicle collisions.

Interestingly, though, the author surmises that the cause of the increase in collisions derives from drivers becoming more complacent with greater levels of environmental illumination.

Staying on the topic of mother nature’s light pollution, the moon alters animal behavior. I don’t think this is a surprise for you at home listening. However, in a study in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers looked at 86 mammal species living in 17 protected forests across three continents using long-term camera data.

They found that 12 of them had a strong aversion to activities in moonlight. Three of them were strongly attracted to operating in moonlight.

30% avoided full moons, while 20% eagerly embraced activity during full moons.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, nocturnal species avoided full moons while crepuscular species like deer, were more active in full moons. Crepuscular means that the animal is most active during dawn and dusk. Researchers found that half of the species they captured in their cameras appeared to change their activity pending the moon phase.

Travis, you will be right at home with this one. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences utilized a harmonic radar to track the flight behavior of 95 moths up to 1 kilometer from a release point.

Get this, each moth was outfitted with a 12 millimeter long antenna! Only 4% of the moths actually flew toward streetlights. Many of the moths avoided streetlights and continually altered their path to do so, indicating that streetlights fragmented moth habitat.

We have a number of bird related articles this month.

First off, this probably isn’t much of a surprise given the species – urban house finches appear to be pretty resilient in the face of light pollution.  In a study from the Science of the Total Environment, it was found that urban house finches might be doing just fine under artificial light. The study looked at birds from urban and rural areas in a controlled lighting environment.

Urban house finches didn’t appear to have increased stress hormones under artificial light at night exposure, but rural house finches did.  Perhaps as a parallel to the increased stress, rural birds also showed a greater increase in levels of an intestinal parasite common to finches than the rate of growth for urban birds when affected by artificial light at night. Both bird sets suffered through sleep deprivation, with the urban birds suffering less than the rural ones.

From the Journal of Experimental Biology, researchers took a look at the shorebird, the Cory’s shearwater. Namely, researchers noted that Seabirds are under the most threat given human activity. One of those threats derives from light pollution.

Authors noted that when breeding ends, “thousands of burrow-nesting seabird fledglings fall to the ground in urban areas after encountering” light pollution.  The fledglings look to be trapped in the light, so this study took a look to see if white/blue light was simply more dangerous than other forms of light for these birds.

Cory’s shearwater fledglings delayed decision making in environments with artificial light at night and appeared avoidant of blue light. Once exposed to such light, the birds became disoriented and trapped. It should be noted that this was a study of 131 individuals, whereby 20 self-selected for darkness and 6 self-selected for light.

Finally for ecology this month, an interesting study in the journal, Land. The study assessed artificial light at night’s impact on earthworms and the Phacelia plant species. As expected, earthworms steered clear of the florescent 4000K lighting by staying tucked away underground. 

Germination of the Phacelia plants was low at 25%, apparently in line with studies that have solely tested the effects of earthworm behavior in the presence of artificial light at night. And, not surprisingly, the Phacelia plants, grew taller under artificial light at night. 

The study did find that artificial light may be responsible for a significant reduction in water leaching given the amount of time earthworms tend to stay underground in the presence of light.

One of the interesting things about light pollution is our ability to track human activity based on the lights our industry emits at night. In an article published in PNAS, researchers studied the increase in artificial light at night from satellite images between 1992 through 2013.

The Russian Arctic experienced the greatest annual increase in lighting, modeled at 4.8%. Oil and gas extraction appears to be the primary culprit. Overall, it’s estimated that 5% of the Arctic showed impact from artificial light, however, that number is much more nuanced when we look at specific regions. Canadian activities affected .3% of the total Canadian Arctic, however, along the same analysis, Russia impacted 33% of their Arctic holdings. Finland, Norway, and Sweden, unsurprisingly, made up for roughly 90% of the total light impact on the European Arctic.

Here’s something interesting. A couple of researchers looked at how various cultures utilized their night. This might be my favorite article that we came across this month! From Atlas Obscura – originally in Sapiens, two authors, Nancy Gonlin and April Nowell, help illustrate what night was like across time and cultures.

For instance, nighttime in ancient Rome shared much in common with what we see today in our modern cities – loud noises, good food, drunken reverie, and of course, where there is alcohol, you have subsequent rowdy criminal behavior.

The Mayans saw the night as a time for many activities ranging from hunting to worship. In the Middle East, in Oman, ancient farmers watered their crops at night. And Polynesians navigated by the stars.

Side note on the Romans, they also partook in something that I thought came about quite a while later, but apparently not – Romans partook in the two sleeps phenomenon – whereby they rested for a few hours, then engaged in some sort of activity before resting again later in the night.

Let’s finish up this first half of the show with a little commentary on life. As a kid, I, maybe like you, enjoyed growing up reading the comics section of the newspaper. The internet sometimes rekindles things society takes for granted.

For instance, I love the Far Side comics. I’m not sure why I love them, the humor just does it for me. So I joined a Facebook Far Side group that shows random Far Side comics each day. I noticed a trend in the comics featuring a nighttime setting – each one seems to include stars and a moon, or sometimes just stars in the sky.

Then, randomly – or not randomly depending on how you feel about the tech industry, I saw an ad for another Facebook group –  but this time it was for a Simpsons group with slides showing an apparent difference in how the Simpsons of the 80s and 90s portrayed night – essentially people were nostalgic at the romantic sky gradients and quaint nighttime appearance the show illustrators created.

Paul, I’m sure in your head you’re already well ahead of me here, but I do wonder what an illustrator would paint today given the same comic strips. Would there be any stars? Would there be a fading nighttime sky? The Simpsons even had frames showing a shimmering star lit reflection in the water at night.

Last month, a 21 year running comic strip named ‘Dinosaur Comics’ tackled the topic of light pollution. If you’re not familiar with Dinosaur Comics, it involves two t-rexes in the same six frames every release. There’s a green t-rex and an orange one, and essentially they jab witty commentary back and forth at each other while ravaging the human environment.

Back on October 16^th, Ryan North, the accomplished author of the strip, took on the topic of light pollution! Whereby one dinosaur explains to the other that electric light has removed “basically the night sky’s #1 most visible feature!” From there, it descends into a bantering back and forth on modernity.

The best part of this comic may not actually be the comic strip itself, but rather the title – “Light Pollution, more like FRIGHT pollution,” obviously an homage to a spooky season tale, but I’m going to go a step further, and put my spin on it – maybe it’s also double entendre given that so much light pollution is in actuality driven from fright and fear.